Remote control devices for monitoring and controlling local as well as slave processes communicate through a communication connection, for example a network, with a master process control level, which is also referred to as control center, and with slave systems related with the process.
Communication in systems for electric power transmission, such as message transmission between different devices, for example, such as protective devices, switchgear, transformers, etc., is performed through the communication standard IEC 61850, which is described, for example, in EP 1 976 281 A1. For the data exchange in the system, it is necessary to connect the devices which do not operate according to the IEC 61850 standard by means of different modules to the network usually implemented as a data bus. WO 2005/055538 A1, for example, describes the modules necessary for doing so and the operation thereof, such as gateways, for example for converting the incoming data in a format compatible with the IEC 61850 standard, IED (intelligent electronic device) protocol converter, devices for connection to master communication units, such as the network control center, or input/output devices for directly coupling processes.
However, connecting existing devices to the communication network operating according to the ICE 61850 standard by means of the aforementioned modules is associated with a substantial hardware and configuration cost.